James 4:13-17 FAITH PRODUCES DEPENDENCE ON GOD It is good for us to have a strategy for living. A stated goal establishes an objective to be reached or a work to be accomplished, and by implication, need a framework for daily living to achieve them. But goals by themselves can be dangerous if they are not qualified by the assurance that we know they are God's will for us to reach. When we know they are His goals for us, we submit to Him and plan ahead but put God’s desire at the center of our planning. Goals disappoint us if we leave God out.
Goals are powerful and primary motivators in living for God. We need to live for God today and every day. Life is short. A goal is a statement of faith in which we live our Christian life in response to God's revealed will. They define our lives as spiritual motivators so we do not waste our time chasing shadows. A defined goal should be measureable, manageable and meaningful.
When the purpose of a goal is clarified and plain enough to us that we can describe it in prayer to God, and if need be, in words to others. Then we need to prioritize our activities with that in view. We need to plan a course of action with that goal in mind, and then go ahead and take the necessary action in daily living to reach that goal. A primary goal in life is to "glorify God" in our bodies and spirits that are His. Another primary goal is to spread the Gospel. We need to seek the lost so the Holy Spirit can bring them into the kingdom of God. Producing spiritual fruit and good works are also primary goals in the life of a child of God.
There is no point in making plans as though God does not exist, because the future is in His hands. What would you like to be doing 10 years from now? One year from now? Tomorrow? How will you react if God rearranges your plans? Plan ahead but hold you plans loosely because we do not know "what shall be on the morrow." When we put God’s will and desire for us at the center of our planning, and our goals are consciously subject to His divine authority, we will never be disappointed at the outcome. Life is short no matter how we look at it or how long we live. We don’t want to be deceived into thinking we have lots of time.
Moses compared life to a sleep. David spoke of life as a shadow. Job lived around two hundred years but spoke of life as wind and as a weaver's shuttle. Peter said life is like grass that grows up and soon withers. James speaks of life as a vapor, a mist, that briefly appears and then is gone. None of us has a very long time to live here. To live for Christ in this brief time is what is important. Enjoying family life, reaching out to be a blessing to others, showing and telling people what it means to live for God is what gives meaning and joy to our brief life.
To boast and brag about what we are going to do, or even about what we have done, is evil. "It is God that worketh in you." We can do nothing on our own without God allowing it. We are to "do all to the glory of
God." Faith in a believer's life makes us conscious of God and His will in all that we do - or all that we do not do. Sin is not doing right. Sin is doing wrong.
Eight of the Ten Commandments forbid doing certain things. Two of them require doing certain things. So doing wrong or not doing right are both sin. It is a sin to lie, and it is a sin to know the truth and not tell it. It is sin to slander or speak evil of another person and it is also sin to avoid that person when they need our help or our friendship. The Holy Spirit within us guides us to do what needs to be done and well as to make us understand when something is wrong.
He may guide us to a person and direct us to gives assistance and act on behalf of one who is in need. It may be there is a physical need we are able to meet. We may be called upon to be a mediator to bring about a reconciliation. Perhaps it may be our voice that someone needs to hear in order to give hope to the hopeless. When we do that which is good, there is a vitality that refreshes us. There may be also a vigor that reaches beyond us to benefit others and there is a vision that makes the fulfillment of the divine commission a reality.